He was a low-level member of the United Nations gang. From what I have heard so far, this is likely not linked to other recent shootings. But of course that can’t be determined for sure so soon afterwards.

Curtis was sentenced to two years in jail in August 2007 after being arrested in Vancouver for trafficking and possession of a firearm. He was also given a 10-year firearms prohibition. He was convicted of a West Vancouver fraud in 2006 and got 18 months probation.

And he faced trafficking charges in Surrey after being arrested in December 2004. He was also charged with trafficking in Abbotsford in June 2009, but the case was later dismissed. At the time of his death Sunday, he had one outstanding charge of driving while prohibited in Port Moody in the summer of 2010. He was due to go to trial for that in March, 2012.

Ignore the haters; goofballs, losers and asshats who wouldn’t hnow squat about being a journalist…or good human beings. Keep up the great work…you and agent K are the best (only?) at shining a light on the underbelly of VanDirty and keeping us aware if what’s going on.

I forgot to ask you what exactly you found offensive. You said you would email me with an explanation to my email account.(which is not bogus). You did’nt explain anything but rather just repeated that my comments were inappropriate. Thanks and have a great day.

You have removed 2 of my comments that you deemed inappropriate. This is your perogative as this is your blog. I’m assuming the comment about the kid is what you found offensive. That is fine. However your comments about “feeling sorry” for self admitted killer Bal Buttar still have’nt been explained. Why did you feel sorry for a guy like him? Because he was blinded and paralyzed by his injuries? This guy and his brothers/friends ruined many families for nothing more then a few years of living it up. This guy was a parasite to society and deserved exactly what he got. You also claim that you do not get choked when being insulted. Yet it is clear that you do get choked. Like I asked you before, why would you let comments about your appearance etc from boneheads bother you? Unless you thought the comments were true? I am not trying to insult you by the way. I am trying to figure out why a “professional” journalist would have such thin skin. Were you teased in school about your appearance?
On a different note, have you ever thought about adding spell check to your blog? People that write to you do not know the difference between using “your” and “you’re” or “to” and “too” among other grammatical errors. Jellouse, eshalon, shampain are not words in the English language.

Yes, I did explain why I felt sorry for him in response to an earlier comment questioning my judgement – it was simply because of his devastating injuries – the fact that he lay there year after year unable to move anything except his head and blind on top of that. And he rarely had visitors. I totally agree he ruined many lives which is why I wrote the story I wrote convincing him to go public with what he had done. At least he admitted a role in those cases (I am sure there were more.) It isn’t like I simply talked to him about the weather. I often spoke about what he did. And I encouraged him to follow up and talk to kids as he claimed he would. And he did give me information about things from his era on an on-going basis, so I continued to use him as a source from 04-07. He told me many times, he got what he deserved and I didn’t argue that point. But please remember that I only saw the guy as someone in a hospital bed – I never met him during his reign of terror. As soon as I learned he might be involved in a new crime, I never saw him or spoke to him again.

As for spell check, I don’t see it happening. I was lucky to get as many changes as I did on this blog. All changes have to be implemented by a team back east. But I will make an inquiry.

As for insults, I do take some of them personally. I have done this blog for more than three years. I don’t mind people debating me or critiquing stories at all. I welcome that. But I have been subjected to many personal attacks, including death threats, on here. The ones that bother me the most are those that attack my integrity as a journalist. I always try to conduct myself ethically. So when people question my motives, suggest I am on the take, or trash everything I have ever done as a reporter – all anonymously – I do get defensive. And it shows. However, I think for the most part, I let people have their say. And I doubt there is another blog in the country that let’s people post this much crap about the author of the blog.

Integrity as a journalist…you deleted my explanation as to my statement…how has that have any INTEGRITY? Integrity …would have deleted the whole conversation between us …or left it all alone. Dictators have no integrity.
in·teg·ri·ty [in-teg-ri-tee]
noun
1.
adherence to moral and ethical principles; soundness of moral character; >>>honesty.<<<
2.
the state of being whole, entire, or undiminished: to preserve the integrity of the empire.
3.
a sound, unimpaired, or perfect condition: the integrity of a ship's hull.

I have integrity and I also have to remove comments that contain material that is legally problematic. As you are anonymous and I don’t know which anonymous you are, I can’t really reply to why I removed what I removed. If you want to tell me via email or send me your comment, I can reply. kbolan@vancouversun.com This is my blog and I will comment whenever I want to comment. I am the only one who uses my real name on here, which means I have to take responsibility for what I say. The rest of you don’t.

You know whats funny, you talk like you know journalists and what they think, yet you type like a teenager. You try and make your comment sounds as though you are a reporter, when clearly your the joke. You are just like the people your talking about on here….It baffles me were people get there ‘true’ stories from…Do people just make these things up to sounds like they know what there talking about? lol Its acually humorous

Did u hear anything on a body or the head of a body found on Burke mountain… I ask because rumors are swirling in the tri cities about this and someone i know has been missing for a while and he fits the profile of somebody this could happen to

I have had a complaint that you have stolen the ID of the other Clarke Kim. I delete comments that accuse people of crimes for which they have neither been charged nor convicted nor even named as suspects. Period. I have no favourites in this violent world. Those who commit violent crimes deserve to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law and I praise those brave enough to cooperate with police. And just for the record, I think the Hells Angels is a criminal organization and I hope a B.C. court finds it to be one soon.

KIM SAYS: You have made many unfounded allegations in this statement James and I am removing it accordingly. I will email you at the one you provided to explain more, though I suspect it is a bogus one since it is so easy to attack anonymously.

how does organized crime work in vancouver? is it a free for all or is there structure, like in The Sopranos? yeah, i’m obviously clueless about this lifestyle and i’m not ashamed of that. but i am curious and like to follow current events and stuff.

In my opinion, all gang members belong to the same club. They are the AH club, not the HA, IS, UN, Big C etc. The latter initials only signify to which wing they currently pay homage. Yet they are still just AHs.

Please judges, take the cuffs off the cops. With a few minor yet significant changes to your rulings relating to admissibilty of evidence, the curent situation of gang shootings etc., would easily be reduced to a torrable level. Must we wait until things become like they are in Mexico?

This is an awesome blog Kim and your doing great work. You can tell the people leaving the rude comments are probably high school kids with too much time on their hands. I love how everyone knocks you but then they keep coming back every single day. I hope the Vancouver Sun hooks you up with a nice bonus this year for all of the web traffic you drive to their site. Keep doing your thing, ignore the grade 4 insults and hopefully Ill talk to you again at the next forum in Abby.

Thanks for the support and I would love to get out to Abby. I used to be out there all the time, but less often recently because there has been less violence. It shows that some of the policing/community strategies have had an impact.

Hey kim , i hate these guys bashing you all the time! they all just looking for entertainment.
I’ve been in the game way back were loyalty meant “someting” these days if someone is wacked than its one reason and its a simple one ‘YOU RIPPED SOMEONE OFF”
its not rocket science. You look at the markets and the recession everything is fu*****. Wannabes need to pay of there car payments mortgages etc etc. so they befriend and and do a rip. As the world changes so do the dope game! i wish you goodluck on the 20th century concrete jungle you punks

Was this young man a low level member of the United Nations gang as stated by Ms Bolan?

Was this young man an associate of the Independent Soldiers as stated by posters on this blog?

Was his association unimportant…it’s well known that Vancouvers criminals shift loyalties, freindships and allies frequently…trying to assign him a side may not be relevent at all.

Lets get to the real issue…the heart of the matter…the Real Scoop…this young man was a criminal…a thug, a thief and a seller of poison.

His entire existence was defined by his willingness to harm his fellow man.

His membership was to the gang known as “reprobates” and his loyalty was only to himself, or the devil.

So when he died in a sordid, pointless execution on a Vancouver streetcorner, accompanied only by a dog one can only hope that the manner of his death serves as a life changing example to young people contemplating a life of crime?

Do you want to die in your bed, surrounded by your adoring grandchildren? Will your funeral be attended by thousands who live in your community?

Or will you die on a streetcorner, scared and alone while your obituary is dwarfed by the cruel comments of laughing bloggers whose only intrest in your death is amusement? Do you want to go out like Axel Curtis?

And lets not even mention the eternal damnation of God’s judgement on those who sell drugs to children…Hell sucks, as Axel now knows.

I am hardly blaming anyone for anything. I simply passed along what I heard from a number of sources. If you want to share your belief/information, I would be more than happy to listen. kbolan@vancouversun.com or 604-219-5740

Axel was a solid guy and was not a member of any crew. Just cause he has people on his facebook that are in certain crews dont mean nothing. This is the first time I ever commented on this blog and swore that I would never do so but my friend is gone and as far as I am concerned disrespecting someone that has passed on this blog is uncalled for let him R.I.P… No matter what we do or say in this life we deserve that at the very least. As far as people on here saying ohh he is a ripper and ohh he got me for 3 birds like clearly you are either one talking shit or two you should not be in the game. End of story I wont be responding to any of the stupid things I am sure people are gonna comment on after I post this just felt I had to stand up for a lost friend. R.I.P Axel Curtis…

P.S. Maybe this will inspire some other people to quit the life as I did I really hope so life is short and living that way is not worth it as we sadly see today…

ALI ABHARI RIPPED OF BIG CIRCLE BOYZ AND SHOT AND KILLED BIG RAYMOND IN HIS SHAUNASSY MANSION FOR 1 000 000 CAPS OF E.RONAL SHAKKEL WAS IN THE WRONG PLACE AT THE WRONG TIME.ONLY A SHORT TIME AFTER THE RIP AND KILLING OF RAY RON AND ALI GOT CORNERED IN AND SPRAYED BY PROFESSIONALS IN A BLACK S.U.V ON GRANVILLE AND 70TH IN VANCOUVER.RAY WAS SPECIAL THEY HAD A PARADE FOR HIM WHEN HE DIED BACK IN CHINA HE WAS A BOSS OR DRAGON HEAD.

Thinking of the perfect gift for the gangster in your life? A balaclava will come in handy during the coming cold weather and targeted hit seasons. Remember though, a true gangster will insist it be black.

“Hail of bullets”??? Really tired of reading such corny, overused 1930s headlines. The headline writers make themselves sound like illiterate high-school dropouts. I know you don’t write the headlines Kim, but hoping you can pass the word to the editors.

Hey LOONIE didnt jamie and RS guys try to ice you in front of you south burnaby house when you ripped somone off for 350k wire??? where’s paperwork saying its true. Dennis the top RS enforcer and super rat admitted to it…LOONIE are you confused lol!!!?

You are very rude. If you disagree with the police take that he is UN, you should contact them and help them out with his affiliation. As I said, I don’t know him personally. But I have heard from FOUR contacts – some in law enforcement and some on the other side who ALL say he is UN. And facebook means little. Many of these guys have facebook friends in more than one camp, especially if they live in the same city together. We actually heard at the Jarrod Bacon cocaine case that he called an Abby friend linked to the UN to check out the agent. So it isn’t like these guys never talk.

I have heard some people were mad at him for a rip-off and that is why he was targeted. But I would never say never to anything. As I tried to express before, sometimes there are several motives and people team up to take someone out. Sometimes people in the UN have friends in the IS. It is a lot more fluid than people realize.

I have said hello to Jarrod and Jon in the hallway of courts – nothing more than that. I have interview Susan Bacon about the Surrey gun case and then of course I got a few comments from the dad back in June 2008. And he has cracked a joke in the hallway of Surrey Provincial as well.

I didn’t spend hours and hours with him at a time. He was in a care facility not far from my house so I would pop in to visit for an hour here and there because I felt sorry for him. He would call as well and ask me to visit. Don’t you do volunteer work in your community? I also manage soccer and lacrosse teams. I fundraise for different community groups. Believe me, I have given this blog and you guys MANY more hours than Bal ever got!

I actually do some volunteer work…but would much rather help the homeless, spca, the elderly…something much more useful than feeding ice chips to some useless piece of skin. I sure hope that we never hear in the news that you have profited from organized crime. I, to date, actually commend you on what you do. But I can think of better uses of your free time.

How dare you suggest I am somehow profitting from organized crime! I should remove that comment as libelous, but then you’ll probably claim it proves the point. I work countless unpaid hours because I am passionate about my work and these issues. And if I choose to visit a quadriplegic who says he got what he deserved, it actually is NONE of your business. I think you are way off base trying to tell me how to a) do my job and b) how to spend my spare time.

As a journalist, when people take a risk and let me write their story, I don’t just dump them afterwards. I believe that is unethical. I have many, many people I have written about over the years who I keep in touch with and who feel like they can call me if they need to talk. That’s the way I do my job and I don’t actually care what you think of me.

Your blog is good to read but all these idiot posters ruin it,go back to the other way when you had to register. Youre going to lose the people you want to read it and keep all the morons that post crap.

Fiberals keeping their supports, gangsters and international organized crime syndicates, happy.
Time to put the criminals in jail starting with the political party that is just a front for organized crime syndicates. The party of the La Cosa Norstra. Reduce crime put the liberals in jail.

Thank you- that is why EVERYBODY needs to SUPPORT the WORLD WIDE REVOLUTION- WE CAN ALL BE LIVING LIKE KINGS-BUT THE 1%!!!!!! KEEP US POOR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!DO YOU UNDERDSTAND!!!!!!!!!!???????????????????????

was he white? Kim who was it? seriously who is doing all these killings? no arrests or suspects even named ever, if the police feel like they know who did it why not tell the public more info, what a joke I’m surprised there are not more shootings and killings as your chance of getting away with it are 99% if you are not afraid of retaliation why not kill your enemy!

compared to your face kimmy we could be on the cover of GQ, ur so ugly the doctor slapped your mama when you were born and you got more rolls than a bakery and more chins than a chinese phone book, god damn u uglay gurl

kim..stop responding to every negetive comment..half these people are illiteraye in the first place..their reading comprehension causes their own confusion..keep up the good work..nice to see the blog operational again

KIM SAYS: I have a story on that which will be posted later tonight. I had two other stories to do Friday and was in court all day. I just wrote that one on a day off, as well as helping a colleague with the murder story. So please be patient.

Man shot at West 7th and Ash in VancouverGlobal News : Sunday, November 06, 2011 1:23 PM
Shooting in Vancouver at West 7th Ave and Ash St.
Vancouver Police have the neighbourhood surrounding West 7th Avenue and Ash Street on the city’s west side locked down after a man was shot Sunday morning.

Global BC anchor Chris Gailus, who was in the area at the time of the shooting, says sources tell him a man was ambushed as he left home and that the shooting was likely targeted. Witnesses report hearing up to six shots, followed by a man fleeing the scene in a hoodie.

Police are searching for a suspect and pedestrians and motorists are being asked to avoid the area

Read it on Global News: Global BC | Man shot at West 7th and Ash in Vancouver

all the shootings in the last few months, (since ktown hit) are only the beginning, come january, the lower mainland will be in another all out gang war like 2009, and this one focused around surrey, and the westend again.